


Empire

by CS (adventuresinsoap)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Dragons, F/M, Gen, Langst, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-08
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-12 15:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11740098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adventuresinsoap/pseuds/CS
Summary: The Galra have been the reigning power in the land since before Keith was born. Now, as a soldier of Galrynthis, he is assigned to the recently captured Arus. And while at first it seems like any other village, little does he know that hidden below is the first piece an ancient power that could topple the great empire that may not be as perfect as Keith initially thought.





	1. 1 - The Village

When he was only ten years old, Keith watched his village be burned to the ground by soldiers clad in grey. When he was eighteen, he too put on that grey armor. 

The Galra had been the reigning power since he had been born, overcoming nearly every other kingdom within its reach. Few remained, and wouldn’t for long. With each kingdom it conquered, the Galra’s grip on the land tightened. Able young people from these kingdoms were brought to and trained in Galrynthis, the Galra kingdom, to be integrated into their forces. This was young Keith’s fate. 

Despite being the most skilled warrior in his group, upon completion of the academy he was transferred to the very edge of Galrynthis, to a small village named Arus. It was only recently captured, but it had easily succumbed to the Galra rule. Knowing this, Keith was certainly not thrilled about playing guard to a minor village. 

-

The forests around Arus were far too thick for Keith’s taste. The dirt path that they now rode on was narrow and had low-hanging branches that were difficult to avoid on horseback. One, he didn’t avoid in time, and it left his face stinging. He growled angrily.

“I hate this stupid forest!” he shouted, and Shiro, the other soldier being transferred, glanced pityingly at him. 

“We’ll be out of it soon,” the man promised. “It’s just up ahead. Have some patience, Keith.”

And as Shiro said, not a minute later, the trees came to an abrupt halt at the edge of what used to be a field of crops. Now, all that was left were blackened, shriveled plants, as if fire had scorched it. And it had. Keith quickly looked away from the field and ahead to the village itself. As they passed buildings, faces peered from doorways, hateful eyes following them down the road. Keith forced himself to keep looking ahead. 'Glare all you want,' he thought. 'You’ll be grateful for the Galra later.' 

When they reached the plaza in the center of the village, they found a tall, fiery-haired man waiting for them, standing stiffly with his arms behind his back. He appeared greatly out of place among the majority of the villagers, who were all on the short side. The two soldiers dismounted and approached the man. Shiro briefly leaned over to Keith.

“Let me do the talking,” he murmured. “You keep watch for any attackers, in case these people aren’t as compliant as they seem.” Keith nodded. 

The man smiled at them, his face welcoming but his eyes guarded. “I was informed that Galrynthis was sending a larger force. Are they arriving after you?”

Shiro nodded. “Yes. You can expect their arrival within the next five days, though I think you’ll find that we alone can manage any trouble this village is having.” The threat was so unconcealed that Keith was surprised the man didn’t appear to be affected at all. He simply nodded. 

“I wouldn’t expect any less from the Galra. My name is Coran. Our leader is ill at the moment, so I am standing in. If you’ll follow me, I will escort you to your host home.”

“Host home? I thought we were to stay in separate barracks.” Shiro crossed his arms. 

“They have not been fully constructed yet,” Coran replied briskly, pointing to a half-constructed stone building on the edge of the plaza. “You arrived on short notice and recently many of our supplies have been...confiscated.” 

Keith glared at the man, angered by the implication. Shiro gave him a warning glance, then looked back at Coran. “That’s fine, as long as it’s finished by the time that the rest of us arrive.” 

Coran’s smile never wavered. “Of course it will. Now, if you’ll follow me. You may leave your horses here, since someone will come to take them to the host’s stables later.”

Shiro hesitantly looked at the horses, then turned back to Coran. “Fine. Take care of them, please.” 

Coran led them down a small road from the plaza, and the small shops turned back into homes. Now that he wasn’t on horseback, the distrustful glares of the people made him even more uncomfortable. He pulled his purple cloak more tightly around him. 

“Now, there will likely be several other people staying in the home, so I sincerely apologize,” Coran told them as they walked. “We are currently offering shelter to refugees from Terra, and all of them are staying in this housing area. I cannot guarantee that there will not be high tensions here.” 

“Terra?” Keith repeated questioningly. “What’s going on there?” 

“Ever since Terra's reconstruction several years ago, the empire has set harsher rules in place for them. Many people are trying to get out before an inevitable clash between Galrynthis and the natives. Coran stopped in front of a cluster of homes, outside of which people washed clothes or cooked. It seemed busier than the rest of the village, and most of the people here were taller than the Arusians. “Here we are. Until the barracks are finished, you’ll be staying in Klaizap’s home." 

“Hey, Coran!” someone shouted. Keith turned to look at a tall boy around Keith’s own age leaning against the wall of one of the other houses. “I thought this was a Galra-free zone!” The boy glared accusingly at Keith. 

“They’re the soldiers sent to protect our village,” Coran replied with a warning tone. 

“Protect! You’re such a jokester, Coran.” Though there was a grin on his face, there was no laughter in the boy’s eyes. He was just like the Arusians, distrustful of the people who would bring prosperity to the kingdom. 

“We are here to protect you,” growled Keith. “And you seem to be incredibly ungrateful for that.” 

“Grateful?” At the word, the smiling boy seemed to suddenly grow enraged. “Grateful? Why would I ever be - “

“Lance,” warned Coran, and the boy stopped abruptly. Keith raised his chin triumphantly and turned back to Coran, who looked at Lance for a moment longer and then sighed and led the soldiers to the house he had pointed out. 

“Klaizap?” he called through the doorway. “The Galra soldiers are here.”

“Already?” a voice replied, and a short man came to the doorway, glancing between Shiro, Keith, and Coran. “Well, then. Welcome to our humble village.” 

“This is Klaizap,” Coran introduced. “He’ll be your host.”

“I’m also the fiercest warrior here,” Klaizap warned. “So no funny business, you hear?”

Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes, but Shiro simply smiled. “Of course. Thank you for letting us stay in your home.”

“A Galra with manners! I almost like you. Almost. Come on in.”

Both Keith and Shiro had to duck when going through the doorway, and Keith had to let his eyes adjust to the dimly lit interior. Even though he was used to the poor quality of Galra barracks, he was taken by surprise. A single, nearly burnt-out candle illuminated five crudely made beds on one half of the small room, with only one separated from the others by a curtain. The other half of the room contained three wooden chairs, a bookshelf, and a suit of armor that not only looked like it was made for a dwarf but also appeared to be decades old, judging by the dust and rust. Several trunks lined the walls, and there was a young boy - probably only a few years younger than Keith - chopping up some sort of plant on a table in the center of the room. 

“Welcome to my home!” Klaizap said proudly, and Keith realized that what he thought was very little was likely much to the man. 

“It’s very nice,” Shiro commented, and Keith looked at him in surprise. Klaizap almost beamed. 

“I know, I know. Anyway, this little guy is Pidgeon. He’s Terran.” 

“It’s actually Pidge,” the boy said, glancing up at the two soldiers with a now-familiar expression of distrust. Keith held his gaze defiantly until the boy looked away. 

“Nice to meet you, Pidge. We’ll only be bothering you two for a little while, until the barracks are constructed.” Shiro nodded to him.

“Mhm,” was Pidge’s reply, and he turned back to chopping up the plant, a little more forcefully than before. 

“Anyhow, you two get settled in those two beds in the corner over there. I need to run into town to grab a few more supplies, now that we have more guests.” Klaizap slung a satchel over his shoulder. “Keep an eye on ‘em, Pidge!” He then jogged out through the doorway. Keith was left to glance over the single room once again. 

He jumped a little when Shiro leaned down and murmured, “Not what you expected, is it?”

Keith shook his head silently and sat on one of the beds Klaizap had pointed out. “Shiro, the people here hate us. Why? We’re the good guys.”

“Keith, in many of these villages, our soldiers burned and stole and sometimes killed when they came in.” Keith looked up sharply. 

“But that was because they resisted!”

Shiro sat down on the second bed and began to take off his grey armor. “If your home was being forcefully captured, wouldn’t you resist?” 

Keith was silent at that.. Shiro smiled as if to say ‘I thought so.’ “We’re going to be here for a while, Keith. You’ll want to learn about the other perspective if you want to get along with the people here.” Before Keith could reply, Shiro stood and approached Pidge, striking up a conversation. Keith sighed and laid back on the bed, still in full armor. Shiro was right, but it was odd to him how easygoing he was, even with all of the passive-aggressiveness and hateful looks. And learning about ‘the other perspective’? That was a strange thing for a loyal Galra soldier to say. 

Whatever. It didn’t matter now. Keith could already feel exhaustion catching up with him, so with a last look at Shiro, he closed his eyes. Soon the rest of the soldiers would be here, and he wouldn’t have to feel bad about the burned field and the refugees. It would all be okay, just as it always was with the Galra. 

Still, the boy outside’s hateful stare remained in his mind, and Keith wondered what the Galra had to have done to make these people despise them so much.


	2. The Cave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> took way too long and is unedited but here ya go

Keith had always been the victim of horrible nightmares. They were common for him. Sometimes, he woke up yelling or slashing at invisible enemies. But this night was different. While his sleep was normally filled with fire and enemy ranks, this time he simply stood facing an ocean. 

Keith had only seen the ocean in tapestries and paintings. But even in the dream, he could have sworn he smelled the salt water. Waves lapped at his bare feet. It was calm. 

Until something suddenly broke through the waves, rocketing into the sky and opening golden eyes that seemed to pierce his very soul. 

At that point, Keith woke up. His body ached, either from the journey or from the fact that he had slept in his armor. However, there was a strange feeling inside his chest, almost like a tugging sensation. He quietly slipped his armor off and tried going back to sleep but to no avail. Finally, he got out of bed, grabbed his boots, a candle, and a dagger, and left the house, hoping a walk might clear his head. 

 

He didn’t know exactly when he entered the woods - only that suddenly he was surrounded by trees he could barely see beyond the light of the candle. The tug in his chest grew stronger, urging him deeper into the forest. He peered into the darkness ahead, tightened his grip on his dagger, and proceeded. 

After a about a minute of walking, he suddenly stepped in an icy creek. Keith hissed and jumped back with a curse. Now his boot was soaked, and for what? 

“Coming out here was pointless,” he muttered, and was about to turn back when he heard the familiar sound of a sword being unsheathed. Keith whirled around just in time to parry the sword strike with his dagger, dropping the candle. The light illuminated the face of the boy from the village. 

“You!” the boy, Lance, hissed. Keith glared back. 

“How dare you attack a Galra soldier!” Keith pushed up with his dagger, forcing Lance’s sword further away from him. “And when their back is turned!”

“If some creep was following you into the woods, you’d do the same!” Lance backed up a couple of steps, onto a cluster of boulders by the stream. 

“I was not following you!” Keith said angrily. “I had no idea you were out here, and if I had, I would have spoken with Coran and made sure you were soundly punished.” 

“For what?” Lance shouted. “Walking in the woods? Last I checked, there’s no curfew - or is that another freedom you’re taking away?”

Furious, Keith ran at the boy, leaping onto the boulders and slashing at Lance’s right side with the dagger. When Lance raised his sword to block the blow, Keith grabbed his wrist and twisted the sword from Lance’s grip. He saw Lance’s eyes grow wide in the candlelight and grinned, holding the dagger at his throat. “Not so tough now, are you?” 

Lance stared hatefully at him for a moment until suddenly his gaze snapped to something beside Keith. Instinctively, Keith looked in the same direction. Barely visible in the light of the fallen candle was a dark hole, like the mouth of a cave, previously hidden from sight by the boulders that they now stood on. It seemed to go straight down. The tug in his chest that had ceased as he had fought now returned stronger than ever, urging him downwards. 

He looked back at Lance, but the boy had a malicious grin on his face, and he realized that he had become distracted. Before he could react, Lance shoved him towards the hole. Keith’s arms flailed as he teetered on the verge of falling, and he grabbed Lance’s raggedy shirt, bringing him with him as he fell. 

Together they tumbled down into the hole, Lance shrieking. To Keith’s surprise, it wasn’t just a shallow cave - it was a tunnel, too deep and straight to be natural. His suspicions about it being man-made were confirmed when they slid to a stop inside a large, round cave with walls engraved with pictures. The whole cavern was illuminated by five torches - two on the left and on the right the fifth above a large, blank spot ahead of them. 

Someone else is here, Keith thought at the sight of the torches. But where - Keith’s thoughts were cut off by another one of Lance’s shrieks, caused by what answered his question.

The carvings on the wall were glowing blue.   
“Magic,” Keith gasped. “B-but that’s gone. It disappeared decades ago.”

“Well, evidently not, dimwit,” Lance replied, but he too appeared just as shocked as Keith.

Before Galrynthis begun its expansion, and the land was still in chaos and disarray, some people had the ability to use sorcery. Often, these people were warlords and criminals, using their gifts for evil. However, when Galrynthis took power, magic was banned and almost instantly disappeared thanks to the diligence of enforcers of the law. 

But now, soft blue light outlined the shapes of not only battles but oceans and runes and...dragons. Somehow, before they had begun to glow, Keith had missed the most commonly depicted thing on the cavern walls. 

“What is this?” He heard Lance breathe, and he turned to see the other boy already on the other side of the cave, reaching a hand out to rest on the blank part of the wall beneath the fifth torch. 

“Don’t touch anything!” Keith yelled, but it was too late. As his voice echoed painfully around the small room, Lance laid his hand on the wall, and, instantly, the flames of the torches became bright blue. The boy stepped back as the blank wall began to crumble. They stared. What had just been solid stone was now a miserable pile of pebbles. Keith and Lance looked at each other.

“Don’t do it,” Keith warned. 

Lance grinned and raced through the now-open doorway. 

Keith cursed, chasing after him and ending up in another tunnel, large enough to stand and run in and lit only by even more carvings. It led further down into the earth, sloping steeply downwards.

Oh, Shiro would kill me for this, he thought. 

He jogged after the boy, careful not to touch the walls just in case another mysterious magic doorway revealed itself. The tugging sensation in his chest urged him onwards, growing stronger and stronger as he continued, to the point where it was almost painful. Eventually the tunnel started to level out until he was no longer going downwards. 

The tunnel ended after it leveled out, but Lance was simply standing at the end - which was an archway, unconcealed and carved with symbols that Keith couldn't hope to decipher. The boy was staring out into what Keith assumed was another cavern. 

“What did I tell you?” Keith fumed. “You are in so much-”

“Shh!” Lance whirled, eyes wide and frantic. He pressed a finger to his lips. 

Keith figured it would have to be a good reason if it caused the boy to shut up, so he obeyed, creeping up to peer through the archway beside Lance. What he saw struck fear into the deepest parts of him. 

The cavern was enormous - at least ten times the size of the first - and covered in the glowing blue carvings; and curled in the center was a massive, slumbering dragon.


End file.
